Volvo 240 Odometer Repair

Return to Main Page UPDATED: January 22, 2012

Web	www.davebarton.com

Custom Printed Apparel by CafePress

This Page is in TWO Sections

CLICK ONE TO NAVIGATE DIRECTLY
Section 1: 1981-85 240s
Section 2: 1986-93 240s

Broken odometers in Volvo 240s are pretty darn common. Luckily, for most of us, there are now easy fixes for little nuisances like this. And there are even a few good webpages covering such repairs.
So... why did I go to all trouble of writing this page then? A couple reasons... When I experienced a problem with the odometer in my '84 242 Turbo, I found it to be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from any repair I've seen before (resulting in no new part needed).
Then I started getting emails from people who found my repair page, often after they bought and tried to install a new gear from an on-line seller. A LOT of people were getting badly confused by the two very different installation methods between cable-driven and electronic speedometers and the lack of guidance they were finding on-line. Lots of 240 owners haven't a clue if their speedometer is cable-driven (mechanical) or electronic. And they were frustrated by less than accurate advice they were getting from people who sold them odometer gears, but couldn'y offer much support about Volvos. After all, some places sell gears speedo for lots of different cars.
So I put together some very detailed instructions below on BOTH types of repairs for 240s.
If you find any errors here or you can help with a better way than I have illustrated below, please email me.
Thank you, Dave

EMAIL ME

When the cable-driven (or mechanical) odometer in my '84 240 Turbo began acting up, I knew it would be time for some minor surgery into the dash. The below instructions will explain in detail what I found. Some of it is pretty much the same information found in Dave Shannon's page, however, the specific failure I found in my odometer was very different. It also resulted in no new part being needed. And I have since discovered the problem I found is a pretty common failure in '81-'85 240 odometers. So I decided to illustrate the repair I did here for those of you who want to fix your odometers. Please keep this in mind.... I know how intimidating this kind of stuff seems. I put it off for some time because I felt it might be a real pain. But I found it was very easy to accomplish.

RESOURCES FOR PARTS AND OTHER INFO
Here are some other resources for Volvo 240 odometer repairs.

Dave's Shannon's Odometer Repair Page: http://www.homestead.com/volvo2/Odometer.html. Dave's instructional page on repairing a cracked plastic gear in an '81-'85 240 cable-driven (mechanical) odometers has been a great resource for many years and was the inspiration for me learning how to replace these gears.
Volvo 240 Odometer Repair: http://www.hyperocity.com/volvo240/volvoodometer.htm. A pretty good site with instructions for '86-'93 electronic odometer repairs. They also offer resources for purchasing new gears for '81-'85 240 cable-driven (mechanical) speedometers.
cleanflametrap.com/speedo: Diagnostic notes for later 240 electric speedometers. Also: cleanflametrap.com/speedo5/

Section 1: General Odometer Surgery & Repair
1981-1985 240 CABLE-DRIVEN (mechanical) Speedometers
(NOT for 1986 and later electronic units)

For these instructions below, I will not go into detail on removing the 240 instrument cluster from the dash. For detailed instructions on that, please refer to my 240 custom gauge face installation instructions at http://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240faceinstall81-93.pdf.

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com
CLICK HERE

Here's the back of your typical '81-'85 240 instrument cluster.
<<< Locate and remove the 7 Phillips head screws around the outer edge (noted by the white arrows).
<<< Also remove the two slotted screws on the back of speedometer (noted by two red arrows).

<<< Some speedometers have these additional electronic connections.
If yours does, then remove the smaller slotted screws shown.

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Lift out the circuit board.
<<< Here's what you now have before you. The speedometer remains in the box.
Carefully remove it and have a look if you've never seen one up close before. Take a couple pics and impress your friends.

<<< If your cluster has a tach, you'll see this little item.
Don't lose it. It often falls out if you turn the box over. How about you just don't tip it over?

Speedometer Needle Removal (Locking the Speed Cup):
On the 1981-85 240, the speedo needle needs to be removed. This is a delicate operation.

<<< Here is the back side of your speedo. Look for two rectangular slotted holes (indicated by the screwdriver).

<<< Insert a small slotted screwdriver (like the one shown) into one of the holes.
This will lock the speed cup and mechanism inside the speedometer so the needle shaft cannot move.

<<< After gently lifting the needle over the ZERO stop pin, take note of its resting position. When re-installing, this is the position you want it to be in.

To remove the needle, grip the center plastic hub of the speedo needle and turn it counter-clockwise (toward the "MPH"). Be careful not to put pressure on the orange needle pointer. It's thin plastic and will snap off in a generally unpleasant way if you do.

Since the internal mechanism inside the speedometer was already locked by you, you will be turning and forcing it counter-clockwise until you feel it come loose and get easier to turn. Now you may turn it back and forth, while at the same time gently pulling it toward you. It'll come off in your hand without any fuss.

If you're still here... then let's continue.
If you break a speedo needle, I usually try to keep a few used replacements in my Used Parts Page. It's rare to break one, but it does happen once in a while.
However, if you follow these instructions carefully, there is an excellent chance you will not break anything.

<<< Once the needle is off, remove the metal speedometer faceplate using a small flat screwdriver. To do this, remove the 2 tiny screws.
Be careful if they're tight. The factory likes to put threadlocker on them. These screws are soft metal and are easy to gouge. Find a screwdriver that fits these small slotted screws well.

<<< Here's the naked speedometer after removing the faceplate.
See those 3 slotted screws? Enlarge the pic and you can see better. Remove them. They hold the two halves of the speedo together.
Once the screws are removed, be gentle when pulling in apart. The parts inside are delicate, but it won't explode in a shower of parts... trust me.
You'll see one piece (beloe photo) that can fall out at this point. Not to worry, just put it back like shown in the photo.

Here's the back half of the speedo.
<<< The thing with the arrow is what I was talking about. Just be sure to put it back before you reassemble.

Here's the front half of the speedo, viewed from the back.

See these two gears (one is blue and one is black)? To avoid confusion, I'll call these them "outside gears" since they're on the outside of the odometer assembly. This blue plastic gear is often the culprit for a failed odometer in a cable-driven speedo, but not always as I discovered.

You'll notice in this photo the odometer reset button is missing from the bottom of the speedo. I removed it so it wouldn't get in my way. It pops off quite easily. They also tend to break after years of getting pushed and pushed. If you need one, I try to keep used replacements on hand in my Used Parts Page here.

Here's a closer look at the blue gear. Your gear may be a different color... I haven't seen that many yet. If anyone knows the colors, please email me.
FYI, this is the same gear referenced in Dave's Shannon's page (the gear he found was white instead of blue, so it might have had a different number of teeth). This gear (as found by Dave Shannon) has a tendancy to crack. It might also lose teeth after years of use. There is a long metal shaft going through these outside gears. In order for the odometer to function correctly, these gears need to grip the shaft... so slipping is NOT allowed. Dave Shannon's gear was cracked and that was causing it to slip on the slaft.

I found nothing obviously wrong with either of these outside gears during my exploration. No cracks and no missing teeth. And they appeared to be gripping the shaft from what I could see. This was a mystery, since my odometer clearly was not working. So I gave up. It's not my fault Volvo owners give up so easily.

NO! Volvo owners are NOT quitters! (you didn't fall for that, right?) Instead, I found a way to test the odometer to see where my problem was.
As I mentioned, that blue gear could be cracked, missing teeth or just plain slipping on the shaft, although I could find no problem at this point.
I needed to see for certain if that gear was gripping or slipping on the shaft. To test this, pick up the assembly and grip the wide black inside gear (like I am in the photo) and hold it so it can't turn. Now see if you can turn the two outside gears on the end of the shaft. Don't force them.... be gentle. You should NOT be able to turn the two outside gears without the wide black inside gear turning also. If you can spin the outer gears without the inside gear turning, you know something is slipping somewhere. It's important to find out exactly what is slipping before you pull anything apart.

If you find one of the plastic outside gears is slipping, your best solution is probably to replace it, although Dave Shannon was successful in glueing his back together as mentioned below. If these gears seem tight on the shaft as they should be, or if you're still not sure what's wrong, them keep reading....

See this brass collar? It's pressed onto the shaft (opposite end from the outside gears). This shaft goes through the odometer number wheels and through the two outside gears on the other side. When you try to spin the outside gears (while holding the wide black inside gear steady), have a look at this collar to see if the shaft/collar is spinning along with them.

If the shaft is NOT spinning, then one or both outside gears are loose. As mentioned in Dave's Shannon's Page, he found a cracked plastic outside gear. Replacement gears weren't available then, so his repair method was to expoxy or JB Weld the gear back together and to use some 220 grit sandpaper to roughen the shaft for a better grip.

If the shaft/collar IS spinning and it still appears the outside gears are gripping the shaft, then something else is slipping. I will cover this a little further below, so don't be a cheater and skip ahead.

REMOVING THE OUTSIDE GEARS: If you find you need to remove the outside gears, gently pry them with a small flat screwdriver (see photo). I don't know yet if it matters, but for now pay close attention to which direction they face, so you can put them back on the same way.

For those of you who don't read directions very well, here's a close up of these gears. NOTE: The tops of these gears were facing away from the speedo body. Maybe that will help those of you who weren't paying attention to the positions of your outside gears (assuming it really matters).

I found this blue gear to be a 14 tooth unit and may be typical of many 1980s era 240s, like mine. I am now offering these gears if you need them. Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this section. If you need a new gear, you should replace yours with the same tooth count to match.

If you found that one or both of your outside gears were spinning on the shaft, and the gear is not otherwise broken, you could try roughing up the shaft with some sandpaper, although I have not tried this and cannot say if it will help. It's also possible to use a small punch or screwdriver to tap small dents around the gear center hole. This might help close up the hole slightly. Be careful, since beating on your gear may destroy it. With it being so old, it might also be brittle. You will have to decide on the risk. Remember? You're a decisive 240 owner! However, if a new gear is available, I would stop scewing around and just buy a new one.

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND THAT WAS DIFFERENT WITH MY ODOMETER FAILURE:
When I tested my outside gears to see if they were gripping or spinning on the shaft, I found they were gripping quite well, but they were spinning the shaft when I turned them while I held the wide black inside gear steady. That was not normal. As it turned out, my outside gears were just fine. What I discovered was that the GRAY METAL GEAR you see in this photo was slipping on the shaft. It's an inside gear. It's supposed to GRIP the shaft. Slipping is bad.

Removing this metal gear is tricky.

See the shaft going through the gear? Remember how it goes through all the odometer number wheels too? If you remove this shaft, the odometer will explode and a lot of little parts will fall out and bounce everywhere. Not good.

I found a way. The shaft needs to be pulled out just enough to release this metal gear. The last thing I wanted to see was all those little number wheels falling out, or even moving in the slightest amount. So I placed a piece of packing tape across the number wheels (see photo) to keep them snugly together. No moving. Much, much better.

<<< Then I used a felt marker and marked both the gray metal gear and the white plastic one next to it. I wanted the gray metal gear to go back in the exact same position, just in case it made a difference.

First, go back up a few steps and remove those two outside gears.
<<< To slide the shaft out, use a small screwdriver to pry under this brass collar. The collar and shaft are pressed together. The shaft should begin coming out along with the collar.

DO NOT pry the shaft out too far.
Pry the shaft out just enough so the gray metal gear is free. Then carefully lift the gear out. Try not to disturb the odometer number wheels.

<<< Here's the gray metal gear from my speedometer. Click the photo for a close-up. This one is 1/8th inch thick (4.57 mm). It's made of some sort of cheap pot-metal, with the appearance of "lead." If you look closely, the hole in the center has some very faint splines. These were worn down on my gear, so it was slipping on the shaft.

My solution to tighten up this gear on the shaft was to use a pointed tool (a punch or small screwdriver may work) and give the area around the hole a few taps to slightly deform/expand the metal and tighten the grip on the shaft.

Three taps on mine worked. The gear went back on and was nice and tight.

Keep in mind that such a repair may not be permanent and this gear could begin slipping again in the future. A more permanent solution would be to replace this gear with a new one. Also take note that this gear may be found in three different thicknesses: 1/8 inch (4.57 mm), 3/16 inch (5.44 mm), and 1/4 inch (6.35 mm). The most common on in my experience seems to be the 1/8 inch gear.

I am now offering these gears. Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this section.

After you re-insert the gray metal gear, push the shaft back through and test the odometer function again before installing the outside gears. Pay attention to the alignment of the top odometer numbers. The first time I re-installed the gray metal gear, I found the far right number wheel was no longer aligned (see photo). This means I allowed that number wheel to slip or perhaps the gray metal gear was installed slightly off the mark.

I pulled it back out and got it right the second time. Now I have a perfect odometer again.

Now re-install the face and speedo needle. When re-installing the speedo needle, make sure you gently push down evenly on the center hub of the needle. Once it is on firm enough, you may adjust it to its former position by using the small screwdriver to locl the speed cup as discussed earlier.

Total time, after pulling the instrument cluster out of the car, was less than an hour.
Why don't you fix yours now?

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com

I offer the following items for sale.

New Nylon Gear - 14 tooth - for 240 Mechanical Speedo (please verify your tooth count).

At this time I stock only the 14 tooth gear, since it seems to be more common. I can get any gear if you can wait a few extra days. If you find a gear other than a 14 in your speedo, please let me know. If other gears are commonly found, I will begin stocking more tooth counts.
(Known tooth counts: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 29)

New "Lead" Gear - 1/8 inch, 4.57 mm (thinnest gear)

At this time I only stock the 1/8 inch lead gear, since it seems to be more common. I can get any gear if you can wait a few extra days. If you find a gear other than the 1/8 inch size in your speedo, please let me know. If other gears are needed by customers, I will begin stocking more types.
(Known types: 1/8 inch/4.57mm, 3/16 inch/5.44mm, 1/4 inch/ 6.35mm)

Section 2: General Odometer Surgery & Repair
1986-1993 240 ELECTRONIC Speedometers
(NOT for 1985 and older mechanical units)

For this set of instructions, I will not go into detail on removing the 240 instrument cluster from the dash. For detailed instructions on this, please refer to my 240 white face gauge installation instructions at http://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240faceinstall81-93.pdf.

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com
CLICK HERE

Locate and remove the 7 Phillips head screws around the outer edge of the gauge box. Ignore the red arrows in this photo.

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE.

<<< Here's the back of the electronic speedometer in your cluster.

Remove the 4 Slotted Screws noted by the red arrows. Lift the gauge and circuit board assembly out of the box and the speedo will easily separate from the rest of the assembly.

If your cluster has a tach, you'll see this little item.
Don't lose it. It will fall out if you turn the box over. How about you just don't tip it over?

<<< Here's the speedo after separating it from everything else. Exciting, huh?
Turn it over and you'll see this thingy below....

<<<There's a small electric motor in there. Behind that is the small plastic gear that breaks so often in '86-'93 240's.
You will be removing these two Phillip's screws shortly. But before you do that, you have a decision. Most 240 owners are already decisive. Let's see if YOU are.
The metal faceplate on the front of the speedo can get in the way of this operation. This can be done WITHOUT removing the metal faceplate, but it will be a bit harder to work in there behind that motor and circuit board.

<<< Have a look here. Not a lot of room, but it can be done.
Decision time now . . . . Ok, keep reading.

If you have decided to remove the faceplate first, this step will tell you what to do.
Removing the Needle: Grip the center plastic hub of the speedo needle and turn it counter-clockwise (toward the "MPH"). Be careful not to put pressure on the orange needle pointer. It's plastic and will snap off if you do.

There is an internal stop inside the speedometer that makes the needle stop are zero. You will be turning and forcing it counter-clockwise, toward the bottom, past zero.
The needle has a bit of glue to hold it to the shaft. After you feel the glue break, the needle will turn past zero and it will get easier to turn. Then continue turning it counter-clockwise, while at the same time pulling it toward you. It'll come off in your hand without any fuss.

Then, using a small slotted screwdriver (it's important to use one that fits well in the slots), unscrew the two small faceplate screws. These screws are a soft metal and will be gouged easily and distorted if you use the wrong tool and/or too much force.

Remove the faceplate.

Remember those two Phillip's screws two steps back? Remove them if you haven't yet.
After the two Phillip's screws are removed, pull back the circuit board assembly. These photos show how it will look if the needle and faceplate are removed first.
With these first two photos, I'm showing you two different possibilities, which you will see when you open this part of the speedo up. That gear contraption part is the GEAR POD. It might come out with the motor or it might stay in the hole . . . it doesn't matter. Either way is good.

Noted by red arrow: Ok, that large gray contraption is the GEAR POD. That small gray 25 tooth gear on the front is the part that fails most often. If you look closely, that 25 tooth gear has a tooth missing. On the back of the GEAR POD you will see a black 15 tooth gear (it's a separate piece on an original Volvo part). Examine it also for damage.

The small (white) gear shown below is the new GEAR POD that will take the place of the 25 tooth gear. Because of that broken tooth, we now know why this odometer failed.

<<< After removing the GEAR POD, examine it closely. The gear pod is known to fail, although not quite as often as the small gear. Usually, if this part fails, you will find visible damage. If you want to better ensure a working odometer for years to come, you might consider replacing this part even if you don't find any obvious damage.

<<< I now offer both the new small 25 tooth gear and the new gear pod if needed. The new gear pod is made as one piece, which ensures a stronger part.
Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this section.

A few words of advice:

Look hard for small broken pieces. Use compressed air if you have it to help dislodge and remove any small bits of gear that might be remaining inside.

I received an email from a late model 240 owner who replaced a broken gear and couldn't get things to move more than 1/10 click after several reassemblies. He finally discovered that a piece of the broken gear was lodged in the works. Here's how things went:

"It was maddening. I agree, however, 7 times is simply a testament to my stubbornness, or so my wife would say! By the third evolution I could remove the instrument cluster in about 60 seconds and I had the rear wheel jacked up to facilitate a test drive!"

"The giveaway was the trip 1/10 numbers would move a bit, then the upper main odometer would look like it was trying to turn, the numbers would move slightly, then it would all stop. It was behaving like a jam was somewhere in there. Your description of not giving up on your mechanical odometer gear troubleshoot was inspirational, I went back and re-read it after the fifth removal."

"The broken gear piece was miniscule and the only way I found it was by rotating the gear mechanism with my finger while I had the gear case cracked open. I kept getting to one spot that had noticeable resistance but could see nothing. I ran the tip of a tweezers in between the gear teeth and on one pass a small piece of plastic came out, and that was it." S.D., Wake, VA

Now you may re-assemble everything. Total time for this operation can be around an hour.

STILL NOT WORKING?
IMPORTANT: READ THIS
While I have not directly experienced this myself, I was told by a speedo repair professional that on a number of occasions they had experienced a "dead" odometer after replacing a broken gear in one of these speedos. The speedo functioned worked, but the odometer just wouldn't turn. On each of these occasions, the odometer would mysteriously start working after a period of driving . . . sometimes after an hour. Sometimes after a week. So far, no one has been able to say precisely why this happens, but it is generally thought that there must be some sort of circuit breaker protection designed into the speedometer circuit board that finally resets after a period of time. After I posted this information here, I began receiving identical reports from a number of customers who have installed new gears in electronic speedos. So if this happens to you, give it some time and see if it comes back to life. If you have a similar experience, feel free to write me. I'd like to hear about it.

"Sure enough it started working after about an hour or so of driving. Specifically, I drove for about an hour without any action from the odometer, then shut it down for about 5-6 hours, then started another drive and it was working immediately upon starting out." C.S., Raynham, MA

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com

I offer the following items for sale.

New Nylon 25 tooth gear for 1986-93 240 Speedo.

*NOTE: Regarding 1992-93 240 CLICK HERE.

New 15 Tooth Odometer Gear Pod for 1986-93 240 Speedo

The original Volvo pod was made in two parts (the pod disc and 15T gear). This new pod is made as one piece, which ensures a stronger part.

Regarding 25 Tooth Gear in 1992-93 240
There are two different possible tooth count gears for this application. A 25 or 26 tooth gear, although the 25T seems to be most common. The only way to tell which one is installed in your '92-'93 is to remove it and count the teeth. If you aren't sure, then you may just install a 25 tooth gear. It will fit ALL units. If it's the wrong one, everything will work just fine, but the odometer will be off by about 3%.